It continues to be baffling beyond words how Canada has ended up being among the Administration's "most wanted" trade villains. In a client note, Doug Porter, the chief economist at the Bank of Montreal, set aside the usual analysis for a "rant" that apparently he could just not keep in. Even big bank economists need to blow off steam, and in Porter's case, he did so by pretty much demolishing the argument that Canada is the trade villain Trump makes us out to be.

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Porter…is by no means the only expert scratching his head over U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to slap tariffs on steel and aluminium from Canada, Mexico and the EU ? a move that has led to retaliation by Canada and the onset of a trade war.

Canada is the world's single biggest market for U.S goods and services (with Mexico in a strong second position).

Canada buys more from the U.S. than Japan, Germany and Korea combined, and almost twice that of China even though it has a population of less than 37 million and

Canada has much more closely balanced bilateral trade with the U.S. than against any other major nation the U.S. deals with.

…Trump [has] continued his attacks on Canadian trade policy…accusing Canada of unfairly protecting its agricultural sector…but if Porter is confused, it may be simply because he is expecting something from Donald Trump that the President can't deliver: a consistent and rational approach to trade or any other issue.

Some economists have gone a little farther than Porter in taking this into account. Take, for instance, Jeffrey Sachs, the celebrated economist who runs the Earth Institute at Columbia University. In a recent column, Sachs argued that the explanation for Trump's decisions is that he is "unwell and unfit to be President…By instinct, we strive to make sense of Trump's nonsense, implicitly assuming some hidden strategy. There is none. … His is a psychopath's trade war."

There you have it, folks ? expert economists on Trump's trade agenda. Is it even worth negotiating with a Trump administration and if not, what next? Strange questions for a strange time.

Canada isn't taking President Donald Trump's decision to hit the country with steel and aluminum tariffs lying down. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that Canada will impose retaliatory tariffs on $12.8 billion worth of US goods in response to Trump's metals tariffs effective July 1 and will stay in place until the US removes the steel and aluminum restrictions. . The biggest losers from the US-Canada trade fight are industrial states in the Midwest.

Many are criticizing the Donald for imposing tariffs on some commodities such as steel and aluminum but, while he has a valid argument for his thinking, our overall trade deficit is unlikely to change. Indeed, it can not change without a serious economic depression and collapse. Let me explain why that is the case.

President Trump recently announced new tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum, in a move that got mixed reviews from business and political leaders. The new tariffs would increase levies on aluminum by 10% and steel by 25%. There is much debate about the sensibility of these tariffs, but rather than wade into that morass, let's examine what tariffs are and how they impact the economy and your investments.

The psychiatric community is starting to comment on the fitness of Donny "Twitter" Trump for the position of POTUS. The deeper they plunge into Trump's presidency, the more willing they are to call it like they see and hear it. This Washington Post article reviews several books by psychiatrists which try to answer the prevailing question: "Is Trump mentally ill or is America?"

I'd like to sincerely thank Donald Trump for so diligently playing his role in the polarization process that ends up assisting in the Ascension of Consciousness for a kinder and gentler America. We couldn't have done it without you, Donald. After all, we can't clean the counters if we never move the cookie jar to see that they're dirty.